Nowadays, movable windowpanes can be found in a plurality of motor vehicles. In this context, sealing the interior space of the vehicle against the vehicle's surroundings, especially against sound, heat/cold and humidity, in a closed position of the pane, is of great importance. In addition, a sealing profile is required to support a windowpane of a motor vehicle by way of vibrational damping, so that, even at higher vehicle speeds, undesired sounds due to vibration of the windowpane will not arise.
EP 1 935 694 B1 discloses a sealing profile for sealing a motor vehicle door against a body of a motor vehicle. For this, several sealing lips having a flocking structure and a bottom lip, which contacts a front face of a windowpane of the motor vehicle in the closed position, are provided. In the closed position, the sealing lips are adjacent to the lateral surfaces of the windowpane, preventing it from being laterally displaced by the sealing lips. The bottom lip has a convexly curved contact surface, which solely contacts the front face of the windowpane, but does not firmly grip it. If for example pressure variations arise due to airflow, a force or at least a force component will act perpendicular to a lateral surface on the windowpane. This force is required to completely become absorbed by the sealing lips in order to prevent displacement and thus vibration of the windowpane and to assure reliable sealing. However, the reset forces of the sealing lips, which, due to their elastic deformation, are applied to the windowpane, are generally not sufficient to prevent said displacement and thus vibration of the windowpane. Moreover, the convex contact surface does not provide support to the front face, so that the windowpane may slide along the bottom lip. Consequently, such a sealing profile is not able to assure reliable sealing and to prevent vibration of the windowpane, which is associated with undesired sounds development. Such a sealing profile is also know from EP 2 222 491 B1.
A sealing profile without sealing lips is known from EP 1 279 542 B1. According to this, a section of the sealing profile of a windowpane is forced into a cavity, such that the windowpane, in a closed position, will be encompassed by this section at both of its lateral surfaces and at the front face and will be held. However, due to the cavities, which are incorporated into the sealing profile, the sealing profile may become elastically deformed, wherein the windowpane will be put in motion again and vibrations as well as undesired sound development associated therewith will arise.
Another possibility for sealing a windowpane by a sealing profile may be seen from DE 102 00 809 A1. This sealing profile is specifically provided for rimless doors, for example on a convertible car. The front face of the windowpane is engaged by the sealing lip. As, in this sealing profile, the sealing lip is movable perpendicular to a lateral surface of the window pane, the windowpane in this case is set in motion together with the sealing lip, what not only results in undesired sounds, but, in this case, will even entail so called additional squelching sounds. This arises from the loosening of two surfaces of elastomeric material, which previously have been pressed together.
Moreover, JP H08 318740 A discloses a sealing strip for a windowpane of a motor vehicle, which comprises a receiving section, which is U-shaped in cross section, and having two legs. The two legs are connected to each other by a base. A bottom lip is provided at the base. A first end of the bottom lip is integrally formed with the base and a second end of the bottom lip is freely movable. In the closed condition, the planar formed contact surface of the bottom lip touches the front side of a windowpane. A supporting section is provided at the base as well. The supporting section is formed for supporting the bottom lip in the closed position at the base. Two sealing lips are arranged at both legs. In the closed condition, the bottom lip will be deformed towards the base and will be curved.
From JP H06 55932 A, a sealing strip may be seen, which has a receiving section having a U-shaped cross section. The receiving section comprises a first leg, a second leg, as well as a base, which connects the first and second leg. A glass cover is connected with the first and the second leg. The glass cover has a glass-receiving surface. A barrier rib is provided adjacent to the glass-receiving surface. In the closed position, the glass cover will be curved towards the base. The glass cover then contacts the front side of the pane.
JP 2010 52462 A discloses a sealing profile for a windowpane of a motor vehicle, which comprises a receiving section, which is formed in a U-shaped manner, and having a first leg and a second leg and a base. A bottom lip is arranged on the base with a first end. A second end of the bottom lip is freely movable. The bottom lip has a curved contact surface. The contact surface is arranged between the first and the second end and contacts the front face of the windowpane in the closed condition. A supporting projection is provided at the second end of the bottom lip between the bottom lip and the base. The supporting projection is able to support the bottom lip in the closed position at the base. In the closed condition, the bottom lip is solely adjacent to the front face of the windowpane, and a cavity is enclosed by the bottom lip, the base, as well as the supporting projection.
A sealing which is applicable in a motor vehicle, comprising a receiving section, which is U-shaped in cross section, is described in GB 2 462 271 A. The receiving section is formed by a first leg, a second leg and a base. A bottom lip has a first end and a second end. The first end is arranged at the first leg. The second end is freely movable. A contact surface is arranged between the first and the second end and, in the closed condition, touches the front face of the windowpane. A first sealing lip is provided at the first leg and a second sealing lip is provided at the second leg. The first sealing lip has a first sealing section, which is applicable to the first lateral surface. The second sealing lip has a second sealing section, which is applicable to the second lateral surface. The first and second sealing sections are coated with a coating for reducing friction.
Other sealings having a receiving section which is U-shaped in cross section are described in WO 2006/042492 A1, DE 10 2008 053 870 A1 and DE 10 2009 053 937 A1.